In the news - January, 1914

Photo of 1909 newsgirls courtesy of Shorpy 

I've been reading a bit of the Detroit Free Press from 1914 every day for about a month now in search of tidbits to share. But these themes come up so often that, if you hear nothing else, at least one of these were mentioned (listed in the general order of frequency).

Detroit Auto Show - January 17-24, 1914

Ford branch office circa 1914.
Photo from "The First Century of the
Detroit Auto Show"

Truth be told, the Detroit Auto Show isn't something I generally get excited about. (Yes, I'm from here. Bite me.) But I do like a good party, especially if it involves musical numbers. And because the 2012 show also marks a turn around for Detroit (*fingers crossed*) and the auto industry, let's get down to it ....

By 1914, Detroit is already on its 13th annual auto show. The first three floors of the Ford branch building on Woodward and Boulevard (aka Grand Boulevard) host 41 brands of "gasoline pleasure cars", 6 makes of commercial vehicles, an array of accessories (e.g., electric cranks, radiators), and a smattering of motorcycles. All told, $1 million worth of autos ($22 million in 2012 dollars) are on display, and these are just a sampling of the 395,000 autos that Detroit expects to crank out this year.

Why Detroit?

If you are like everyone else who has never been to Detroit (or maybe just hasn't been below 8 Mile lately), you probably know it by its music, cars, and destitution. Mostly the latter anymore. So, when I tell people I'm moving to Detroit, I find myself always having to follow it up with an elaborate explanation as to why. (The subtext being "Why would a well-traveled, highly educated, middle aged, white women want to give up her life in a low crime, low pollution, 25 sq mile piece of manicured paradise that she shares with a couple hundred thousand other well-traveled, highly educated, white people to move to a place like, uh, Detroit?" Or maybe when I put it like that, I needn't say more.)

Well, to save me the trouble of repeating myself and you the disservice of losing the essence in a sound bite, below is montage and a few hours worth of reasons why I cannot wait to call Detroit home. (If you don't have time for them all, then at least watch the first video, "Redefining Dreamland".)

I love Detroit for ... 

Renovation: Home is Where the Kitchen Is

The design of the house is coming along!

The original footprint of the house is an 1100 sf rectangle, and long, long ago someone put a two-story addition on one side of the back of what had been an entirely brick house (and then put a first-floor "bump out" on the addition, then a porch extending away from the "bump out"). While the envelope of the house (i.e., basement, exterior walls, and roof) is in generally good condition, the plaster on the rear wall where the addition is attached has come loose and water has been seeping in and down for who knows how long. This means that the pantry cupboards have molded and the roof of the "bump out" and porch is sagging. The back porch itself is collapsing under its own weight.

Welcome home, Mona Lisa - January 1, 1914

In case you've been living under a rock since 1911, the Mona Lisa has been stolen! Just over two years ago, on August 21, 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, a former employee of the Louvre who also fancied himself an Italian patriot, "rescued" the Mona Lisa from her French captors. In classic caper tradition, he had hid out in a broom closet, swiped the fair maiden with the help of janitorially costumed accomplices, and sidled off with her under his coat after hours.

But Vincenzo was not a patient (or particularly noble) man and, after two years of waiting for the right moment, he tried to hock ML to the Uffizi. For his trouble, he was arrested in flagrante dilecto with the masterpiece in his hotel room, got six months in jail, and, in classic Italian tradition, was hailed as a national hero. Today, January 1, 1914, all of France rejoices as La Jaconde is restored to her familiar roost in the Louvre (by way of a brief tour of Italy).

In news stateside,

• The cost of a dozen eggs is expected to go up to $1 ($23 in 2012 dollars), as supply is not keeping up with demand.
• The Detroit police commissioner resolves to reduce reckless driving and put an end to the social custom of the exchange of pleasantries, small talk, and cards between police officers and motorists involved in accidents.
• To add salt to the wound of the the Michigan labor movement, the Calumet coroner absolves opponents of the copper miners' strike (accused of falsely shouting "Fire" in a hall hosting a Christmas Eve dinner for the strikers and their families) of causing the panicked stampede deaths of 74, including many children.